Like any good structure, maintenance is required. Things wear out or become obsolete and must be replaced or the entire facility will, eventually, collapse. I see this happening with this franchise. It was once a mighty edifice but over time, things were ignored or forgotten and now the entire thing has become unsafe. That is not to say that it can't be restored to it's former glory. It will take a lot of work and time but it can be done. Here is my question for you. Assume you are looking at the overall structure of this team. Most of it will need to be torn out and replaced, that's a given. But like any good, old place, it has some good 'bones' underneath that can be used to rebuild around. Who are the 'bones' of this team that you would keep and build around?

bigjoespompano wrote:Like any good structure, maintenance is required. Things wear out or become obsolete and must be replaced or the entire facility will, eventually, collapse. I see this happening with this franchise. It was once a mighty edifice but over time, things were ignored or forgotten and now the entire thing has become unsafe. That is not to say that it can't be restored to it's former glory. It will take a lot of work and time but it can be done. Here is my question for you. Assume you are looking at the overall structure of this team. Most of it will need to be torn out and replaced, that's a given. But like any good, old place, it has some good 'bones' underneath that can be used to rebuild around. Who are the 'bones' of this team that you would keep and build around?

Very good question joe. Not very easy to say. I will try but I cannot be very short. You have consider the changes we will have next year. The new O and D coordinator will have different philosophy. Salaries are of utmost importance ( I will put the 2014 cap figure in parenthesis).

Offense

What to build around :

Pouncey ( 4.7 mil ). Contract year. If he asks for too much he can go. We didn't lose much. Velasco his keeping his own.DeCastro (2.1). One of the best price /quality on the roster.Foster ( 2 mil ). See DeCastro.Velasco.Bell ( 900 k ). Ok

See what they do next year then decide :

Brown ( 8.5 mil per season ). Let's see what he does next year. If he keeps being useless in the Redzone he has to go Miller ( 8 mil per season). Restructure to a lower salary. Draft a TE early ( we should have taken Eifert with the pick that went to Jarvis Jones)Gilbert ( 1 Mil ) & Adams ( 1 Mil ). They have to show improvment. Tackle is a position you should always draft in later rounds. Just look what happened to this years top 4 picks... All wasted...Beachum ( 580 k ). Back up guard.Wheaton ( 600 k ). Gradkowski ( 1.8 ). He fits what Haley wants to do.We must see what is going to be the philosophy of next year coordinator / Head Coach.

Thanks for your hard work but...

Ben ( 19 mil per season) must be traded. Too expensive. Clearly on the downside of his career. One thing that nobody points out is that those long extended plays he make have also the result to have OL going down for the season. There will be plenty of good QB at the 5 pick ( which should be ours...)

Spaeth ( 1 mil ). Blocking TE are useless. You need two receiving TEs in today NFL. Of course Spaeth is not one of these. If he wants to stay at a lower salary as 3rd TE ok. Otherwise cut him.

1+1=...

I put 75 % of the blame on Haley and Ben. Offensive Line should look way better with a different QB and Playcalling. We need to find : a franchise QB, A #1 WR ( somebody dangerous in the last twenty yards ), a #1/2 TE, a LT ( but you can take something in the third or fourth round ).

Timmons ( 11.8 ). See what he does next yearFoote ( 1.8 ). If Spence doesnt't make the comeback you need to draft a starter. A starter can be found also in round three or four.

Thanks for your hard work but...

Woodley ( 13.6 mil ). Cut him. He is the SECOND HIGHEST SALARY ON THE TEAM. He makes 7 times what Jones Make. 7 Times. I do not think there is anybody interested in a trade.Polamalu ( 10.9 ). Bye byeTaylor ( 10.5 ). Bye Bye

1+1=...

Blame LeBeau, Tomlin and the disastrous Salary cap Manager Mr Colbert. Of the top 5 2014 salaries 4 are from defense.

Woodley, Timmons, Polamalu and Taylor. Together they should make about 45 milions. Put Ben with 19 , Brown with 8.5 and Heath with 8 and there you go. 80 Millions in 7 Players. Then you have 43 millions for the remaing 46 players.

However... Depending on the new DC ( does he play 3-4 or 4-3 ? 1 gap or 2 gap ? ) on the defense we have :

Mclendon - HeywardTimmons - Jarvis JonesShamarko Thomas - Gay

Holes all over the place.

Managment :

Everybody has to go. GM. HC, OC, DC, offensive line coach and so on.

In the last 20 days has grown in me a strong desire for Kliff Kingsbury ( Texas Tech ) as our Head Coach. In case there is a rebuilding in Houston I would love to get Wade Phillips as D coord.

Landry Jones.This kid is NFL height and size. Supposedly has a good arm, accurate, but buckles under pressure. Had great numbers in college though. What did we see of him in pre-season? Any chance he could be a Tom Brady? Do we already have the QB we need to rebuild around? Why go for an immediate first-round QB who could be a bust when he will be on a crappy team?

I just keep bouncing back and forth on Roethlisberger. Will he be around long enough for a restructured team? He does make the job hard on his o-line, but as much discussed, is it Chicken or Egg? Brady doesn't have much of a line around him but he doesn't need to "extend plays" if he doesn't get the first down on this play, he will on the next.

To me we can't begin the restructuring process until we solve the What-are-we-gonna-do-at-QB issue first.

Pommah wrote:Landry Jones.Brady doesn't have much of a line around him but he doesn't need to "extend plays" if he doesn't get the first down on this play, he will on the next.

Are you sure? Brady may not have an outstanding O-line but its much better than what we have got. We need a much better O-line and a better O-line coach. Ben for some reason has become slow. He may have to lose some weight and become more agile. Brady is not a mobile QB, but he has a knack to escape pressure in the pocket and quickly release the ball. Ben hangs on to the ball way too long. With the O-line that we have, even the best QBs would have ended up on IR.

Pommah wrote:Landry Jones.Brady doesn't have much of a line around him but he doesn't need to "extend plays" if he doesn't get the first down on this play, he will on the next.

Are you sure? Brady may not have an outstanding O-line but its much better than what we have got. We need a much better O-line and a better O-line coach. Ben for some reason has become slow. He may have to lose some weight and become more agile. Brady is not a mobile QB, but he has a knack to escape pressure in the pocket and quickly release the ball. Ben hangs on to the ball way too long. With the O-line that we have, even the best QBs would have ended up on IR.

I do not agree. I believe that the OLine pass protection problems are caused by Ben. He doesn't throw it quickly enough when needed. Why you do not see any other QB NOT THROWING AND NOT RUNNING AFTER 4 SECONDS ?

Ben loves the broken plays. They cause the OLine to collapse. No wonder why we have constantly o line injuries season after season with Ben at the helm